Bottle.
Head is initially average sized, frothy, white, mostly diminishing.
Body is medium yellow.
Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), moderately hoppy (flowers), lightly to moderately yeasty (cobwebs), with notes of banana, gum, vanilla cream, lemon candy, honey, pineapple, alcohol.
Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter.
Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter.
Full body, velvety/syrupy texture, lively/soft carbonation, moderately alcoholic.
Another hit from this perplexingly hit-and-miss brewery. Not as excellent as Anniversary #1, but then again I came on to this one a bit late, I think. Which may not matter...the nose is overflowing with tropical delights, and to be honest this reminds me a lot of Anker’s consistently wonderful Gouden Carolus Cuvee van der Keizer Rood (the blonde one). This one doesn’t have nearly as good of a flavor balance, though...it’s very sweet and the finish doesn’t really come to the rescue like GvdKR does. Colder temps and gentler pours (more carb) help diminish the perception of sweetness at least a little bit, so that’s your best bet for enjoying this one. Even so, I couldn’t drink much of this. Pretty well-hidden alcohol, and again, the aroma is quite lovely (nice cobwebby yeast character helps a lot, smells very Belgian indeed). But yeah, just too much sugar for me. I prefer the Tripel, which is quite dry in the finish and thus much more drinkable, even if the nose isn’t quite as rich and enticing.

think this was out for a while before we had it, so Nelson hops are not as juicy and tropical as they could be. still heavily hopped, big bodied. almost boozy. very nice interplay between hops and yeast. maybe would have been better at 8% instead of 10, but I liked it.

651 ml. bottle. Pours a thick, tiny bubbled, well retained white head with some lacing, over a slightly hazy gold (SRM 5) body.....nose is candi sugar, mango, peach, vinous notes, light cereal malts, minimal hops.....taste is sweet, mango, coriander, light hints of allspice, finishing with a light herbal bitterness....mouth feel, light of medium body, alcohol heat present, minimal astringency, light acid, with tingling and creamy carbonation. This is wonderfully complex in both aroma and flavor. It is heavily sweet and that is the dominant note, with all the others adding modifiers.It is neither a Tripel nor a Golden Strong. If it were more attenuated it would be a significantly better beer. Also was the right yeast used ? Perhaps a change there would help. BJCP 7/3/14/5/7

Bottle from Brian P: hazy golden hue, lasting head, served in my River North snifter: This is very yummy! Juicy, winey, creamy, malty, lovely. You get the whiny notes from the Nelson without it being overpowering. The mouth feel is utterly shocking, like an Oat Impy Stout, Nice! Rox Sox

Tap at the brewery - turbid gold - nose of musky pineapple, mango, citrus, white grape - moderate carbonation - flavor is fairly sweet, but the complex flavors of tropical fruit make that sweetness work, especially since the sweetness is not sticky or cloying - the nelson hops add a slight spicy kick to the finish - finish of mango and papaya - decent brew, but last year’s was much better.

Cloudy straw hue under a thin sticky rocky head, like a witte. Complex nose with pale grains and juicy tropical grains of paradise/guava, with a touch of west coast leafy hoppiness. The taste hits with a piney leafy bitterness with some underlying juicy fruitiness, like guava and passion fruit, or ’hand of bhudda’, some zesty coriander, and a sweet earthy mellowness of Belgian pale grains and light estery dustiness. Lovely and thought-provoking (?).

Pour out of 22 oz bottle, hazy golden-orange pour with white head, aroma brought notes of biscuit, bread, some peach, hints of pear, grass, some coriander in there as well, pretty nice. Taste is a mix of bready, yeasty notes into a bit of peach, pear, white grape, into a bit of coriander, finishing fairly sweet, slightly bitter.

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